“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “all is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 12:8)

It’s All Vanity

Three words sum up the condition of life. It is hard to imagine a more succinct and direct approach to the human factor than how the wise man Solomon viewed life. For some, this may be a negative view. The idea of vanity suggests there is no purpose to life and in life. Solomon was not saying there was nothing to live for. What the wise man did was balance the nature of life and all its trappings with the firm reality that everything a man works for in life to attain will be left behind when he dies. Further, age cannot be stopped. Every generation has desired the fountain of youth only to find a dried-up creek. The sum total of life is vanity of vanities.

Solomon had every advantage, more than most people have ever lived. He had the most wealth, owned more property, had more pleasures, and married a slew of women with concubines. There was nothing that Solomon could not have. God gave him wisdom above any man in history. These are the things that men seek in life and measure their success by. Money drives the engine of the heart to find ways to amass great amounts of wealth in billions of dollars. Owning houses, lands, cars, boats, toys, recreational devices, and clothing gives status to a select few. Having power and influence is where many find their happiness. The greater a person can be in history, the more that matters. It is the goal of many a poor soul to have one’s name in lights. History erases the memory, and the lights fade.

Pleasure is the opium of life. The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1919 was doomed to fail from the beginning. Trying to end the use of alcohol is historically impossible. Since the beginning of human history, the desire for the drink has been a part of society. Even a man of God like Noah found the pleasures of the pleasures of the vine. Drunkenness is one of the common sins. Immorality through the sexual desires of the flesh has filled the world with darkness and heartache. Generations rise, proclaiming freedom in sexuality, finding only misery in its aftermath. There is no lasting joy and pleasure. Sex brings a moment of reckless folly and then nothing. All is vanity.

Solomon wanted his readers to take a close look at life and put the whole existence of the human experience under the divine microscope. Life is vanity because nothing in life is lasting. Everything the human soul seeks and longs for wastes away in corruption. All is vanity when a man will not see the real purpose of his creation. God did not create man to live on the earth. He desires to have man dwell with Him in eternity. The joys of life are the conduits that allow a man to find God and long to dwell with Him. What is true and lasting in life is the eternal relationship in serving the Lord God. The heart’s desires will not find fulfillment in this life but in the life that is to come. Life is vanity, but eternal life is victory. Leaving all the earthly trappings allows the heart to accept the eternal rewards.

All is vanity and seeking after the wind. The only thing that really matters is knowing what brings happiness to the human heart, respecting the word of God, and obeying the Father’s commands. These commands are not burdensome but liberating. Life is preparing for what comes after death. There is life after death. Nothing in this world can be taken in death, but what is preserved in death is the obedient soul of the faithful. Life is so short and is vanity. Eternity is much longer than life on Earth. When the right choice is made with eternity, the pleasures of eternal joy will never end. They are everlasting. You will live a lot longer after death than before death. Choose carefully what you hang on to. If you gain all the world and lose your soul, you have lost it all. When you gain heaven, you lose the world, but you find happiness.